Calvin Speer Express-News Staff Writer
Publication: San Antonio Express-News
Date: October 5, 1991
Page: 1C
The Marshall Rams went into Northeast Stadium Friday night and left a familiar trademark a battered opponent and a victory. The Rams, ranked No. 1 among Class 5A schools by the Express-News, scored two touchdowns in the last five minutes of the third quarter and a third with 1:30 left in the game to put down Madison, 34-18, before 6,623 spectators.
Marshall improves to 5-0 after winning the non-district contest. Madison, ranked No. 5 by the E-N, is 3-2. But for a brief time midway through the game, the Mavericks pushed the Rams around a bit. “We knew Madison was going to be a great team,” Marshall coach David Visentine said. “We knew that coming in. And they are going to get better.”
The Rams played their customary game with a few twists. Running back Anthony Holmes was typical in rushing for 152 yards on 21 carries with touchdown runs of 20 and 51 yards. But they tossed in scoring plays of 54 yards on a pass from David Sammon to Todd Siebert and a 1-yard TD run from fullback Carlos Reza. Reza spent most of the night putting his shoulder into the Madison defenders, either breaking loss for 10- to 12-yard runs, or getting what he could. Reza finished the game with 105 yards on 24 rushes and one touchdown.
Madison did make the night interesting for the fans, though. Madison coach Jim Streety thought the Mavericks would need some big plays against Marshall, and he got them. “Marshall is just too tough a team to line up against and say, ‘We’re going to whip you on every play,’ ” Streety said. “You’ve got to pick and choose a bit and find what you can do. All of the plays that we ran are on the play sheet and luckily a few of them worked.”
One play not on the sheet put a lump in the Rams’ throats. After Holmes’ 51-yard run with 1:29 left in the third quarter, Madison’s Mike Chandler returned the kickoff 82 yards before Marshall’s Will Flowers tackled him at the Rams’ 12-yard line. On fourth-and-goal at the 9, Harold Williams scored on a screen pass from Jeff Mott.
Mott then completed a pass to Roger Bialas for the two-point conversion. That made the score 27-18, Marshall, with 11:16 left in the game.
Twice after that Marshall was forced to punt, but on the second, the Rams got a break. Madison’s Jeff Eggleston signaled for a fair catch, but dropped the ball and Marshall’s Jeff DeLeon recovered at the Madison 36 with 4:59 left in the game. Marshall later scored on a 9-yard run by Sammon with 1:30 left. “I think what has to happen to beat Marshall, is you have to play a total game on both sides of the ball,” Streety said. “We played both sides but not the whole game.” Except for a few plays, the Rams did.
Marshall’s defense held Madison to 193 yards total offense, most of that coming on two possessions. Madison had 12 first downs, seven in the second half. “I think our defense has really been underrated most of the year,” Visentine said. The Rams’ defense had two lapses, one at the end of the first half and again at the start of the third quarter.
Madison got a 24-yard field goal from Nick Carpino with two seconds left in the first half to cut the scored to 13-3. The Mavericks took the second-half kickoff and went 76 yards with Harold Williams scoring on a 28-yard run with 7:51 left. Carpino’s kick cut the score to 13-10. But the Rams responded with a quick score Sammon’s 54-yard pass to Siebert with 4:58 left in the third quarter. Jason Briggs’ kick gave Marshall a 20-10 lead. Marshall scored again with 1:29 left when Holmes scored on a 51-yard run and Briggs kicked the point after for a 27-10 score.
“I think those were big plays,” Visentine said. “Those took the momentum away from them.” Madison went the locker room trailing by 10 points. And, for the most part, dominated by the Rams. Marshall totaled 163 yards offense and 12 first downs in the first half. The Rams’ defense held Madison to 83 yards and five first downs. Madison had the only turnover in the first half a fumble by Felix Yruegas that was recovered by Marshall’s Sean Noster at the 50. The fumble came after Madison had stopped the Rams on a fourth down play at the Madison 26 with 10:49 left in the first half. Marshall took the gift and turned it into a touchdown with Reza scoring on a 1-yard run with 4:03 left.
The drive took 10 plays and 4:03. Except for the distance covered, it was similar to the Rams’ first possession.
The Rams took the opening kickoff and kept it for 6:56 as they went 80 yards to score. Using the big offensive line to move out the Mavericks, the Rams pushed their way downfield. Marshall ran 12 plays on the drive, the last one resulted in a 20-yard run by Holmes with 5:04 left. But it was more like a 35-yarder. Holmes broke through the line, then darted to his left and right several times, dodging Mavericks defenders before he slipped out of the traffic and ran for the end zone. Jason Briggs kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
